PC based oscilloscope

[kabier]

hi 666 i have tried the software and even before i test it with my soldered probe the sound card goes off i cant hear any audio????
is it a worm!!!!
regards

[Midas]

Thanks Midas. I'm a little hesitant picking up the "vintage" Leader 315A 60Mhz scope as I'm not electronically inclined, and any savings in initial cost would probably by eaten up by service technicians. I notice a few of the Hantek 20m models on sale for under a $100 including shipping. I ran across one review on Amazon stating that while the hardware was good, the software sucked. Any comments on that? Wonder if Soundcard Scope 1.41 would work with the Hantek?

No probs. I agree that the leader scope is a bit of a risk although $75 isn't a bad price.
I didn't find the software on the Hantek too bad, but yeah quite basic. Nothing like the features available on the Rigol. I've posted screen shots before from it in Moodz's diff-coil thread.
I don't like your chances of any third party software being compatible with it.

Midas

[multieagle]

and a PC based DSO (Hantek) which was OK as well till I made the subconscious decision to blow it up by sticking the ground lead onto the power rail while the serial port was connected to my rig.

Midas

Thanks Midas. I'm a little hesitant picking up the "vintage" Leader 315A 60Mhz scope as I'm not electronically inclined, and any savings in initial cost would probably by eaten up by service technicians. I notice a few of the Hantek 20m models on sale for under a $100 including shipping. I ran across one review on Amazon stating that while the hardware was good, the software sucked. Any comments on that? Wonder if Soundcard Scope 1.41 would work with the Hantek?

[Davor]

At that price buy two of them.
Every CRO will father little children to every digital piece of equipment for the next 20 years or so. The best part - they are usually repairable.

[multieagle]

Is $75 too much?

[Midas]

I may be able to pick one like this up locally, vintage used and in good condition: Telequipment D75 50mHz
http://www.grix.it/UserFiles/odoardo.../Teleq-D75.jpg I suppose that would work. However, it is rather old . . . so do not know what the mtce would be like.

Should do the trick. Could be close to the end of its life though so don't pay too much for it. mtce ? Metric Ton Carbon Equivalent? Depends how local and how efficient your car is I guess..

[multieagle]

You want to be able to look at the decay slope in reasonable detail. Since its something happens in around 12us or less what you want is bandwidth, MHz of bandwidth not KHz of bandwidth.

Midas

I may be able to pick one like this up locally, vintage used and in good condition: Telequipment D75 50mHz
http://www.grix.it/UserFiles/odoardo.../Teleq-D75.jpg I suppose that would work. However, it is rather old . . . so do not know what the mtce would be like.

[Midas]

Just out of curiosity (as a novice) which measurements would be out of range. Frequency? Impedance? Other? Would be helpful knowledge when looking at other instruments, and maybe help lessen my learning curve.

You want to be able to look at the decay slope in reasonable detail. Since its something happens in around 12us or less what you want is bandwidth, MHz of bandwidth not KHz of bandwidth. I recently bought the DS1052E (50MHz), entry level digital storage oscilloscope (DSO) and am pretty happy with it. I've also had a 25mhz analogue cathode ray oscilloscope (CRO) which worked fine till it blew up of its own accord and a PC based DSO (Hantek) which was OK as well till I made the subconscious decision to blow it up by sticking the ground lead onto the power rail while the serial port was connected to my rig. I think I'd recommend the DS1052E although others here can't get enough analogue action. Both have the advantage of knobs you can twiddle and buttons to poke at, much more convenient than any PC based solution.

http://dx.com/p/rigol-ds1052e-5-6-tft-lcd-50mhz-2-channel-digital-color-storage-oscilloscope-30573

Midas

[6666]

This is two pulses, oh well it was worth a shot.

[6666]

With the small amount of testing and comparing waveforms with my real CRO and the software
it is a bit disappointing with the results of the software, but still it was an interesting experiment.

If my CRO is working correctly, the pulse on pin 3 on the 555 on my Surf PI is about 50 uS long
you can see the difference in the pictures of the wave form I am seeing on my PC,
it is not the same.
This is single pulse 50uS.

[multieagle]

Frankly ... no. It will be too slow for many measurements with PI.

It would be perfect for VLF.

Just out of curiosity (as a novice) which measurements would be out of range. Frequency? Impedance? Other? Would be helpful knowledge when looking at other instruments, and maybe help lessen my learning curve.

[multieagle]

Thanks. Guess that route is out! Will have to find someone local who has a good setup, or try to build one from scratch as outlined previously by 6666.

[Davor]

Frankly ... no. It will be too slow for many measurements with PI.

It would be perfect for VLF.

[multieagle]

Okay, I'm going with the usb sound card adapter. I'm looking at a sound card oscilloscope probe with the following specs:


Probe Specification

• Maximum Allowable Input Voltage: ± 24 V
• Built-in input protection circuit ensures its output to be less than 3V at all time to pretect the sound card from being damaged by excess input voltage, provided the input voltage is within the allowable range
• Three switchable attenuation positions: 1, 2, 3, with input impedance equal to 1kΩ+sound card input impedance, 201kΩ+sound card input impedance, 10.001MΩ+sound card input impedance, respectively. Note that the sound card input impedance, either MIC IN or Line In, is card dependent and ranges from 600 Ω to 50 kΩ.
• Frequency range: 0~200 kHz
• Soft molded strain reliefs at all stress points assure long cable life.
• Accessories include sprung hook, 6" ground lead, marker bands.
• Its back end is a RCA plug (male) and can be connected to an ordinary sound card through a stereo-to-2RCA converter or a mono-to-1RCA converter. No converter is required for those sound cards that have RCA jacks for input and output.
• Can be used in Signal Generator for signal output. The output impedance is about 1 kΩ, 201 kΩ and 10.001 MΩ for attenuation switch Positions 1, 2, 3, respectively.
• Note: The probe is NOT gavanically isolated from the sound card connected.

Would this be sufficient for purposes of testing a PI detector and coil?

Thank you.

[Davor]

IMHO this is the best deal around: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...891&CatId=2769
...provided you have a PCI slot available.